Buckinghamshire: Westcott Venture Park submits planning application for speculative industrial development

Westcott Venture Park, located between Bicester and Aylesbury, and the largest business park in Buckinghamshire, has submitted a detailed planning application for the region’s first speculative warehouse/distribution development in more than five years.

If consent is achieved, owners Rockspring will invest more than £3 million in the development of 45,000 sq ft, which will include a first phase of 24,000 sq ft of accommodation comprising seven units, ranging in size from 2,000 sq ft to 6,000 sq ft.  The development would be set on three acres of the 650-acre site and would appeal to a wide range of businesses.

Nigel MacKenzie, project manager at Westcott Venture Park, said: “Rockspring hopes to accelerate its investment in the park by developing this speculative facility to deliver much-needed premises for the business marketplace.

“We have seen significant interest in land and facilities at the park, which has been running at 95% occupancy for some time. This interest, coupled with the lack of Grade A space in the region, has prompted the fund to move forward with this new phase of development at Westcott Venture Park.

“The scheme will maintain the development momentum it has gathered in this part of the Park over the past few years which has seen an existing 30,000 sq ft unit refurbishment let to Green Retreats; a 30,000 sq ft new-build headquarters for Construction Specialties; a 25,000 sq ft distribution unit constructed for FedEx; and most recently an 8,000 sq ft unit for Topcats Racing which is nearing completion."

The park is now home to 71 businesses employing over 400 people and is managed by Lambert Smith Hampton.

In the past two years Rockspring has invested over £6m in infrastructure including a new estate road and gatehouse complex, which has opened-up a large amount of land for further development.